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Are Long Heavy Telephoto Lenses Outdated?

Jan 11, 2019 | By: Blain Harasymiw Photography

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I have had a camera in my hand before my adulthood, and I have been fortunate in my carrier as a pro Photographer to be able to afford the best gear.  Nikon has been my choice through the years, and I still have my 600mm & 800mm manual lenses in my collection, also I have the 600mm and 800mm autofocus VR lenses, you could say they have become a part of my family.  My current bodies I use daily are the Nikon D5, D850, D810,  Lenses I do love the products from Aizu Fukushima Sigma Corporation, the 300-800mm f5.6 I have trusted since it's release, and I am on my 3rd lens, the other two met with unfortunate events; but that’s my business adventure photography, and we are not easy on our gear.   Lately, my go-to daily lenses for the field are the Nikon 14-24mm, Nikon 200mm micro, sigma 24-105mm and the Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM, but I am starting to feel I might be missing out on what other camera makers have to offer.  

Next week I am co-leading an adventure photography workshop with Kevin Raber of Rock Hopper Workshops.  And when I found out, I was the only one in our group with a long heavy telephoto 800mm lens; my mind started to race.  One of our clients on our upcoming workshop who I thought was using Canon and long heavy telephoto lenses, changed over, and for wildlife, he now uses the Panasonic: Leica DG 100-400 mm (200-800 mm) f/4.0-6.3 Super Telephoto Lens and the Sony 400mm 2.8 lens, with a teleconverter x2 that's an 800mm lens, my prefeed FOV, and this the gear is extremely light in comparison to my own gear.  I attend several big cameras shows throughout the year,  but in truth, I am more interested in being in the field photographing or in the studio then at camera shows, but I still enjoy to buy my camera gear at shops.  

This year to Hokkaido I will bring along the Sigma 300-800mm 5.6, but I think this will be it’s last visit to Hokkaido, or taken by plane.  In the coming months, I will most likely add a camera maker to my family, possibly Sony, Fuji or Olympus, I will still hold onto some of my Nikon gear, for studio, local birding and macro photography, but for wildlife adventure photography, Nikon and Canon are a little behind the times, especially in camera bodies, I hope they catch up. 

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2 Comments

Aug 29, 2019, 11:30:07 AM

Blain Harasymiw - Thank you, Gerry, and I am happy you are satisfied with the Nikon Z6 Z7. I had thought seriously on adding the Z7, but after handling it and finding, it only had one card slot I passed. I need a body with double card slots; SD's are reasonably priced, and I usually have a dozen in my bag and use them as an extra backup to my downloaded images from XQD. The Nikon D850 is such a great camera that I am satisfied for now, but I am looking forward to seeing the next generation of Nikon mirrorless, and I will keep an open mind on what other makers are offering. Namaste, Blain in Japan

Aug 29, 2019, 1:11:02 AM

Gerry - Thanks for your thoughts on gear, Blain. Have you thought to try the Nikon Z6 & Z7? I love the liberty the lighter Nikon camera bodies give you.

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